Whether it is a legally commissioned statue of a local figure in the center of town or a guerrilla spray-painted stencil on the side of a building, public art democratizes access to artwork and engages audiences beyond traditional gallery and museum spaces. Often, public art is political and/or socially engaged and serves to challenge societal norms or to commemorate and memorialize community events and history.
Generally, public art is designed to reflect unique qualities of the space and its function, natural surroundings, architectural environment, or neighborhood identity. It can celebrate a city or region’s cultural heritage, encourage pride of place and serve as a vital economic development tool.
The nature of public art is often dictated by the community, with a commissioning process usually involving extensive input at the beginning of the project from both artists and community representatives. Unlike gallery or museum-based works of art, which are owned by the art establishment, publicly commissioned works may be maintained by an agency such as a city’s parks department or by a dedicated public art organization such as the McClelland Sculpture Park in Melbourne, Australia.
Sometimes, the commissioned public artwork takes on a life of its own and becomes a part of the community fabric. The iconic Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome, Italy or the equestrian statues of David and Giulia at the Piazza Della Signoria in Florence, are examples of public art that have become an integral component of a city’s character.
Many of the public sculptures of the 1970s and 1980s reflected a desire to create a relationship between the sculptural form and its setting. This approach was influenced by the civil rights movement’s claims on public space, urban cultural policies like the New York Public Art Fund and the city of Geneva’s Percent for Art program, as well as a revisioning of ideas about sculpture.
Today, digital technology is also influencing the way public artworks are created and displayed. A growing number of artists are using computer-generated imagery to project light on buildings or landscapes, with the aim to transform them into new works of art. An annual event in Melbourne, Australia known as the Gertrude Street Projection Festival is dedicated to this type of public art.
A key feature of public art is its ability to withstand the test of time and change with the zeitgeist of the times in which it is installed. While some older public art has been removed and moved to museums, most of the more contemporary works remain in the communities that commissioned them. An example of this is the bronze Karak Gurok (Seven Sisters) by Gunnai artist Ray Thomas, which was integrated into the bluestone paving of Collins Street in Melbourne and reflects the Koorie creation story. The artwork can be seen for free at any time.